Sweat Equity. Literally.

A lot has happened at Red House Nine since the last time we spoke and there is progress!  I've been a really bad blogger and haven't been around much, but there is a LOT going on (seriously, it's not an excuse, I still love you all and don't think any of you smell, promise).  Ed's little red GTI died last week - the day of the Rapture. It was a causality of the rapture, and when I say died, I mean it - D.E.D., dead.  We are faced with having to purchase another car on top of everything else that is going on.  Wonderful, right?  Who needs cabinets and a stove when we could have another car.  Ah-boo.  Anyway, I digress and didn't mean to turn this into a bitch session .... but really? REALLY?!  ugh. 

This long weekend has held a lot of surprises for us in terms of discoveries (including the 85 degree + heat).  We found that the sub-floor in the bathroom around the tub and toilet was made of marshmallows.  Ok, well not literally, but the amount of water damage around those two areas made the sub floor mush. So much so that if we (read Dad and Ed) hadn't taken the time (an entire day of aggravating work) to replace it, the next person to use the toilet would have ended up in the basement.  Yay Dad and Ed!  So, you may be asking what I was doing while Dad and Ed were fixing the marshmallow floor.  Well, you may have guessed I was slacking off working on my tan or frolicking in the sand under the broken pool, but no! I was not!  I was wrecking the kitchen and disassembling the cabinets, psychedelic tile, and dance party USA ceiling.  There were a LOT of surprises in the ghetto-kinda-fixed-but-not-really kitchen. Wanna see a couple?  

Yes, what you're looking at are ancient hornets/bees nests that are directly built on the insulation and wall boards.  I bet you're wondering how they got in there.  Well, see that rectangular "window"?  That was a vent that was at one time hooked up to a vent that went to a range hood which then vented outside.  That was hidden behind the cabinets not sealed off and stuffed with insulation.  So, we took out the vent and fixed up the non-window window the correct way from the inside and the out and moved on.  Next, we found the tiles came off with ease...pop, pop, pop... and that's not a good thing.  We wanted a challenge and if it were tiled right in the first place, it would have.  What? I love using a wrecking bar!  The plumbers have so far found 28 (!) breaks in the heating/domestic system.  This is a far cry from the 7 we were originally told by the sellers.  Some souvenirs and a 85% gut kitchen:

So, those are a few of the surprises we have found so far.  Yea, that's right, I said so far.  This house has all of us saying multiple times a day "this place never ceases to amaze us" and that isn't being said in the optimistic butterflies and rainbows way. No, it's being in said in a "are you even freakin' kiddin' me?!" skulls and crossbones kinda way.  We are diligently working on putting the bathroom back together and we hope it will be as awesome in real life as it looks in our visions.  Stay tuned, kiddies.  The good stuff is ahead!

Wreckin' The Place.

Who doesn't love some good ol' fashioned demolition?  I know I do!  My brother, Adam, made a really clever suggestion to us come the Saturday after closing - his first visit to our new humble abode.  After scoping the place out, he mentioned how the front closet missing one door could be removed, thus opening up the entire entryway.  What's that you say?  A plain, unobstructed view to my future lime green door and or new and improved kitchen?  Ok!  Sold!  So, with that decision made, my dad began disassembling the front closet.  Not too long after, however, he found that the closet was built like Fort Knox leading him to believe that it could be potentially load bearing.  Psych!  It wasn't (well the wall to the very far right lining the staircase is, but the rest is not) and the rest of the closet will be magically transformed into ... I'm not telling. 

 

While the closet destruction was taking place, Ed and I began demolition on the mold-riddled bathroom upstairs and IT. WAS. FUN!  The amount of mold surprised us, but not on a 'holy crap that's a ton of mold' scale, but more of a 'that's it?' scale.  The mold was 95% around the tub and the remaining 5% on the floor - honestly, I was expecting to see it EVERYWHERE.  So, Ed and I to got swingin' our sledge hammers and pounding on the crowbars and took that bathroom down.  Kel & Ed: 1, Moldy Bathroom: 0.

When too may cooks were in the umm, bathroom, Ed, Adam and Dad all went down to the kitchen to see what disaster they could stir up.  Well, lo-and-behold, a disaster was waiting to be found, and found it those men did.  Remember the full frontal of our giant fridge and the UGLY white cabinets that surrounded them?  They are gone. Hasta la bye-bye. Adios.  Ed took his new toy, the sawzall, and wrecked 'um (wrecked 'um? damn near killed 'um!).  What discoveries were made behind the monster fridge and not-attached-to-anything cabinets??? MOLD!!!  wah-wah.  Also, we found that the lazy-ass geniuses that put this 'kitchen' together decided to tile AROUND the cabinets and fridge.  They also shimmed the countertop to 'attach' it to the cabinets.  So, honestly, Ed and I have decided that the entire kitchen is going to be replaced.  Hear that screaming?  Yea, that's our wallet saying uncle.  

So what were Ed, Adam, Dad, and myself left to do?  Hey!  Don't judge.  It was a long (albeit saddening) day.  Well, for some of us. 

Video Bid-ness.

While Ed was changing locks at the house today, I decided to shoot you all a video tour of Red House Nine.  Excited?! I bet.  It's almost as exciting as winning the lotto ... or maybe just finding a heads up penny on the ground .... or going to the dentist.

Plan on a revisit when the place is transformed into awesomeness. Ok, maybe not awesomeness, but definitely more awesome than a visit to the dentist.

P.S. sorry for the lame-o commentary and my over usage of the words hot and awesome.

Red Hizzouse #9 and the Tale of How It Belongs To Us!

And my friends ...... we have a house!!!!  

Ok, so there's no tale, really. We closed yesterday and got the key today!!  Ed and I are more excited than you know (no really, we are).  However, I can't sit behind this computer screen and tell you that we aren't just a little bit terrified.  I know, I know, it's a 'good' terrified, and we both truly believe it.  This is a one MILLION percent upgrade from the 12550 address we used to have.  Yea, our 'old hood' is now riddled with gang and drug busts weekly by the FBI (yea, breaking out the big guns - literally). Compared to that, this terrified feeling is most welcome.  So all-in-all we are looking forward to all of the renovations, aggravation, guests, cookouts and family gatherings.  And yes, if you must know, the fact that #9 is an odd number drives me crazy.  I'm just happy it's not prime and it has a square root. 

Oh! P.S. Our Real Estate agent gifted us this: 

Yep, she's amazing!! Give it up - whaaaat-whaaaaatttt!! 

Morphing Fugly Into Fabulous! Won't You Join the Obsession?

The rain won't stop and I can't finish a project I wanted to show you all because New York State has now turned into the Amazon Rainforest without the heat. So...


The beautiful thing about this house is once we actually get the keys (and someone -*cough* town of Lagrange *cough*- stops dragging their feet on the appraisal for the last two loooong weeks) the contractors and mold busters (oh another side note...do you think the mold busters wear capes over their tyvek suits? Think I can special request them to??) will be in the house that same week cleaning and fixing and making the broke like new again. So, with that being said, the house will be a like-new blank slate ready for shiny new design and a sort of resurrection.  Ed and Cman are the destroyers; I, on the other hand, am left the task of design. Oh, sweet home design, how I love thee.  In my quest for all things gorgeous and inspirational, I have recently fell upon a splendid and quite addicting website called: Pinterest.com.  What is Pinterest you ask? Well, I'll tell you, BUT there is a disclaimer involved. 


*All subjects this chick points in the direction/usage of Pinterest must not hold her liable for drooling, excessive drooling, blindness or convulsions due to 24-7 computer usage searching for the perfect space, decrease in wallet worth, OCD behaviors, loss of computer memory due to JPEG storage, and drooling, etc.* 

*all images courtesy of pinterest.com*

I'm guessing because you all are very fart smellers, you figured out what Pinterest is. I could. spend. hours. on this site. I have become a member against my better judgment and I also have a folder full of oh! I'm going to do that! and Hey, Ed! Look! Oooooohh. Aren't those pictures gorgeous?? It will take us time to decide what exactly we are going to do in each room, but man, I want to do it all! A lime green door (inside only, of course)? yes, please! A set of gray painted cabinets with a white farmhouse sink? Por Favor! Seriously, that teal laundry room with the chandelier will probably make me want to do laundry everyday; and I might! So, while our new diggs may stay relatively humble on the outside for the time being, I expect anything but on the inside. We are down to the wire now in terms of 100000% proudly owning (read: becoming voluntary slaves to) this Red House #9.  

Oh, For The Love of Cohesion and All Things Stainless.

Ed and I maaaaaay have a slight addiction to the world of stainless steel and its gleaming personality. We also maaaaay have to keep ourselves in check when it comes to all things shiny and gray. We regularly have to remind ourselves to have a little fun with punches of color; the world isn’t drab and either are our personalities. Our house already has stainless appliances, but the rest of the kitchen leaves a lot left to be desired.  You see, the kitchen is by far our most favorite room in the house. We love to cook and entertain. We love create and congregate and don’t mind spending time in said beloved room, but we also don’t want the focal point of our home to be u.g.l.y (its mama ain’t got no alibi, its ugly).  When you walk into our house the first thing that catches ones eye is the kitchen at the end of the long hallway. Right now, as our alibi-less u.g.l.y. kitchen stands, it is covered in a green/blue and pale yellow tile pattern, evergreen colored countertop, a rusty red tile floor, and *cringe* non-matching cabinet doors.  Color cohesion? Hell, any cohesion?  I think not.  More like Christmas colors exploded while Jerry Garcia interpreted his psychedelic feelings in tile (oh, and yes, what you’re seeing is in fact wood flooring on the ceiling. And no, [not so] sorry to say, it’s not staying. No more crazy dance parties on that ceiling!!).

 Yea, I get dizzy just looking at it; you do too, right?  So, what are a couple of modern-loving sleek minimalists to do with such an u.g.l.y. duckling when working with a small budget?  Find the most expensive kitchen, fall in love with it, and try to replicate its gorgeousness of course. Sound impossible?  It kinda will be, but I have faith in us (and our handy helpers) that we can totally pull this off. Sharing the kitchen that is fueling our inspiration will not happen in this post, but let me assure you none of you will be disappointed.  Ok, maybe I’ll give you a little glimpse in to our crazy-we-can-do-anything-we’re-superhero’s-after-all train of thought because I’m a real sweetheart like that (stop rolling your eyes).  

Ohhhh, can’t you picture it now?? The gleaming gray, the shiny black, and cohesion.  No you can’t?  Why not?  Oh, right, because I’m being a tease. In addition to massive amounts of cohesion and less amounts of stainless, we plan on building in some major portions and also taking out some major portions.  Oh, and don’t worry, we have a really nice stove (as you can see above its missing) on our radar as well and yes, it’s stainless. 

Let’s Talk About Cents, Baby….

There is nothing more thrilling than the adrenaline rush of the chase and sticking it to the man. You see that beauty and you immediately hone in and make it your obsession; you have to have it in your possession; you want to make it yours. But that price tag makes you say– oh hell no! What? No one else out there enjoys chasing down the best deal possible like a cheetah hunting a gazelle?  Oh, you don’t know the fun you’re missing!! 

Ok, well buckle your seatbelts because in an effort to include all of you in on a few gazelle hunting, money saving, you won’t believe your eyes – and your fat wallet tips, I figured I’d share how Ed and I save our cents when shopping for big (and not so big) ticket items we refuse to pay retail price for. Actually, the words ‘retail price’ aren’t even words in our vocabulary and 99% of the time, we won’t purchase whatever it is we’re looking to unless we have some sort of a savings. Call us cheap, but I like to refer to us as fart smellers (smart fellers…no? not funny? It was in my head).

This house is by far the biggest, most expensive purchase Ed and I both have ever made. Sure we’ve purchased new cars (on the cheap mind you – yea, 0% interest, free extras, and paying under invoice) and furniture, but nothing to the extent of a home. See, even when buying our home we went frugal. I know, it’s a house, how can we buy a house frugally? Well, I’ll tell you how.  We pre-qualified on one salary. We shopped in the lower end of our budget. We waited for the lowest possible interest rate and locked in. We waited for a deal that couldn’t be beat and pounced with an offer lower than asking. It was like shopping for a house with big. fat. coupons. We made the kill and are proud of ourselves that we stuck to our guns and got what we wanted. It’s just too bad Ebates doesn’t give cash back on real estate.

This house (as I previously mentioned) is going to need love and a lot of it. The attic is filed with mold – as is the one full bathroom, the rec room has some, and garage, too. The heating system has pipe breakage and the once gorgeous hardwood floors, bathroom, and kitchen need a ‘What Not to Wear’ makeover by my Dad’s famed girlfriend Carmindy.

 However, with all of the love we are prepared to give, we are not prepared to give all of the cents out of our wallet (well, what’s left anyway).  So, enter online shopping at its best being mastered by the highly-skilled-coupon-stalking-retail-price-slashing-cash-back-maven: yours truly.  Yep, so far we have purchased some items that may look as if we spent upwards of hundreds of dollars, but no way, Jose. Not this chick. What’s that?? You’re all looking for examples?  Right-o. Ready?

Example #1: Fontaine High Arc Brushed Nickel Kitchen Faucet w/ Pullout Side Spray

Retail price is in the range of $150+ plus tax and shipping. Enter Overstock.com and their $1 shipping and NO tax. They had this puppy for an outstanding price of $99. PLUS I received 5% cash back on my purchase through ebates.com.  That’s right. Put back an extra $4.95 into our wallets, and this $150 faucet cost us approximately $96. Savings: $54.00

Example #2: Martha Stewart Collection Bedding, Poppy 6 Piece Set

Isn't it gorgeous?! Retail price is $250. Enter a sale at Macy's.com, plus a gift card plus Ebates.com cash back, and a dab of free shipping. The sale price was $99. I had a gift card for $50. Ebates offered 2.5% cash back and Macy's free shipping. Score! Total spent: $56.50. Savings: $208.50. 

Now I know I mention coupons and trust me, I use them. Solely relying on sales or websites like Overstock isn’t always the best way to get an awesome deal. I use retailmenot.com a lot and usually their coupons work best. I also use google.com/bing.com for coupons and/or finding additional sales on other sites I may have missed. Ebates.com is a Mecca of cash back goodness and it’s legit. I have received 3 checks so far from Ebates totaling $43.88 in cash back just by shopping through their site. Plus they also offer up any new and exciting coupons that can be used in addition to the cash back.  As far as brick and mortar stores are concerned – two words: Clearance Aisle. Ok, and Home Goods, and Outlet Centers. There’s a science – not a cool science like Marilyn & Tyler & Ed study, but a science nonetheless – to money saving. And much like science, it is literally so much fun to see results from the hard work invested, especially when it directly hits you in the wallet. I wasn’t kidding when I say that Ed and I don’t buy anything unless it’s a good deal – even groceries and clothes and presents. We’re currently on the hunt for the best possible deal on appliances. So far, nothing outstanding, but our sniffers are on it.  Anyone know of any super-dee-duper sales that they want to share?  Any inside scoops? Mmmm scoops …. Ice cream…